Methods and apparatuses for determining cell access during a cell search

ABSTRACT

In an embodiment, a method for determining the type of a mobile radio base station is provided. The method may include receiving a synchronization message comprising a mobile radio base station identifier, and determining the type of a mobile radio base station using a previously signaled and stored piece of mobile radio base station type determining information indicating a rule as to how the type of a mobile radio base station out of a plurality of types of a mobile radio base station can be derived from a mobile radio base station identifier and the received mobile radio base station identifier.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/615,124, filed Feb. 5, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 13/419,136, filed Mar. 13, 2012, now U.S. Pat. No.8,989,748, issued Mar. 24, 2015, which is a continuation of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/233,119, filed Sep. 18, 2008 now U.S. Pat. No.8,160,590, issued Apr. 17, 2012, the contents and disclosures of whichare hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments relate generally to a method for determining the type of amobile radio base station, a radio communication terminal device, aradio communication network device, and a radio communication smart carddevice.

BACKGROUND

A current topic in the 3GPP RAN (Third Generation Partnership ProjectRadio Access Network) working groups is the mobility of UEs (UserEquipments) between macro cells of eNBs (evolved NodeBs) and micro cellsof HeNBs (Home evolved NodeBs). A User Equipment (UE) is expected to bein an area with radio coverage guaranteed by standard 3GPP LTE (LongTerm Evolution) Macro-Cells (also referred to as macro radio cells inthe following) served by eNBs and/or Micro-Cells (also referred to asmicro radio cells in the following) served by HeNBs. Depending onvarious criteria, such as subscription type, user profile and so on, theUE may be allowed to access an HeNB or not. Furthermore, the UE may havecertain other priorities, e.g., related to radio link quality, QoS,etc., on whether to prefer connections to a HeNB or a standard eNB.

The current status in 3GPP RAN working groups regarding theidentification of macro radio cells served by eNBs and micro radio cellsserved by HeNBs is as follows:

The need for a method was identified to distinguish both types of mobileradio base stations (BS) such as e.g. eNB and HeNB in an early stage ofthe mobile radio cell acquisition procedure. One approach is thereservation of the available set of PCIs (Physical layer CellIdentities) for such micro radio cells (HeNBs). One alternative approachis the extension of the current set of available PCIs by providingadditional primary synchronisation signals (PSS) and to reserve thisadditional set of PCIs for micro radio cells. An open issue is whetherthe UE should be aware of the reserved set of PCIs for HeNBs or not.

In case that the UE is not aware of the reserved set of PCIs for HeNBs,the conventional solution requires that a UE synchronizes to an unknownBS (independent of whether it is an eNB or HeNB) and—in a secondstep—acquires and decodes the System Information (SI) of the mobileradio communication system in order to identify the type of the BS. Theinherent process is relatively lengthy and the power requirements forperforming all required steps may be high. This may have a direct impacton a variety of UE performance aspects, such as battery lifetime of theUE, and duration to perform handover from a macro cell (eNB) to a microcell (HeNB) (cell type detection speed), which may lead to better QoS(Quality of Service) for the user at start-up (when UE is switched on)or during handover to another BS.

In order to extract the SI, the following broadcasting structure is tobe taken into account: System Information (SI) is broadcast in thedownlink transmission connection as an RRC (Radio Resource ControlProtocol Layer) message carrying a number of System-Information-Blocks(SIBs) that have the same periodicity. Several SIBs have been definedincluding the so-called Master-Information-Block (MIB), that includes alimited number of most frequently transmitted parameters, and SIB Type 1containing the scheduling information that mainly indicates when theother System Information (SI) RRC messages are transmitted, i.e. theirstart times.

SYSTEM INFORMATION MASTER (SI-M) and SYSTEM INFORMATION 1 (SI-1) arespecial versions of a System Information (SI) RRC message only carryinga single SIB, namely the MIB and the SIB Type 1, respectively. The SI-Mmessage are carried on BCH (Broadcast Channel, one of the downlinktransport channels) while all other System Information (SI) RRC messagesincluding SI-1 are carried on DL-SCH (Downlink Shared Channel, anotherone of the downlink transport channels).

Both the SI-M and SI-1 use a fixed schedule with a periodicity of 40 msand 80 ms, respectively. The first transmission of the SI-M is scheduledin radio frames for which the SFN mod 4=0. SI-1 is scheduled in radioframes for which the SFN mod 8=0. Moreover, SI-1 is scheduled insub-frame #5. In this context, SFN is the mobile radio cell system framenumber.

Furthermore and for reasons of completeness, it should be pointed outthat the technique presented herein below is not related to thesignaling of a “Neighbouring List”. A neighbouring list (also called“Neighbour Cell List”) gives specific identities of mobile radio basestations that are available in the neighbourhood and to which acommunication connection is possible. This is unsuitable in theframework of the embodiments which will be described in the following,since the intention is to communicate a list of identities that areallocated to specific types of mobile radio base stations (BS) (e.g.HeNBs, standard eNBs, partially open HeNBs, etc.)—the signaling of theidentities does not imply that the mobile radio base station of thecorresponding identities are actually available. Typically, the ID rangeof a specific mobile radio base station type will be quite broad (e.g.,256 values among all available ones) while only a small number isactually deployed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings, like reference characters generally refer to the sameparts throughout the different views. The drawings are not necessarilyto scale, emphasis instead generally being placed upon illustrating theprinciples of various embodiments. In the following description, variousembodiments are described with reference to the following drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 shows a communication system in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 2 shows a radio communication network device in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 3 shows a radio communication terminal device in accordance with anembodiment;

FIG. 4 shows a radio communication smart card device in accordance withan embodiment;

FIG. 5 shows a time/frequency diagram in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 6 shows an example for a PCI assignment to three different types ofmobile radio base stations for storage in a radio communication smartcard device in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 7 shows a flow diagram in accordance with an embodiment;

FIG. 8 shows a flow diagram illustrating a method for determining thetype of a mobile radio base station in accordance with an embodiment;and

FIG. 9 shows a flow diagram illustrating a method for signaling a mobileradio base station type determining information in accordance with anembodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates table 2, which shows adding the service n 80compared with the the conventional services.

FIG. 11 illustrates a possible realization of the “PCI Assignment toBase Station Classes.”

FIG. 12 illustrates a structure and meaning of the six bytes in the EFUSIM Service Table shown in Table 1.

DESCRIPTION

In the description, the terms “connection” and “coupling” are intendedto include a direct as well as an indirect “connection” and “coupling”,respectively.

Furthermore, in an embodiment, a “circuit” may be understood as any kindof a logic implementing entity, which may be hardware, software,firmware, or any combination thereof. Thus, in an embodiment, a“circuit” may be a hard-wired logic circuit or a programmable logiccircuit such as a programmable processor, e.g. a microprocessor (e.g. aComplex Instruction Set Computer (CISC) processor or a ReducedInstruction Set Computer (RISC) processor). A “circuit” may also besoftware being implemented or executed by a processor, e.g. any kind ofcomputer program, e.g. a computer program using a virtual machine codesuch as e.g. Java, thereby e.g. implementing an individually programmedcircuit. Any other kind of implementation of the respective functionswhich will be described in more detail below may also be understood as a“circuit” in accordance with an alternative embodiment. In anembodiment, a plurality of circuits may be partially or completelyimplemented in one common circuit such as e.g. in one common processorsuch as e.g. one common microprocessor.

A “controller” may be be understood as any kind of a control logicimplementing entity, which may be hardware, software, firmware, or anycombination thereof. A “controller” may include one or a plurality ofprocessors, e.g. one or a plurality of programmable processors such ase.g. one or a plurality of programmable microprocessors. A “controller”may also be software being implemented or executed by a processor, e.g.any kind of computer program, e.g. a computer program using a virtualmachine code such as e.g. Java, thereby e.g. implementing anindividually programmed circuit. Any other kind of implementation of therespective functions which will be described in more detail below mayalso be understood as a “controller” in accordance with an alternativeembodiment. A controller may alternatively or in addition include one ora plurality of application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and/orone or a plurality of programmable gate arrays (PGAs), e.g. fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGAs).

While in the following focus is put on UE mobility from an LTE macroradio cell (eNB) to an LTE micro cell (HeNB), it needs to be pointedthat the described embodiments can be easily applied to Inter-RATHandover scenarios (e.g., mobility from a UMTS macro radio cell to anLTE micro radio cell, etc.).

Various embodiments allow more flexibility for mobile network operators(MNO) to configure and deploy their mobile communication radio networks.For instance, a first mobile network operator MNO_A may choose to deploya PCI (Physical layer Cell Identity) value range (or PCI calculationrule) different from the one a second mobile network operator MNO_Buses. Another effect of one or more embodiments may be that the PCIvalue assignment can even vary depending on the location within oneMNO's domain.

FIG. 1 shows a communication system 100 (e.g. a mobile radiocommunication system 100) in accordance with an embodiment.

In an embodiment, the communication system 100 may include a pluralityof macro radio cells 102, wherein at least one mobile radio base station104 (e.g. in the case of 3GPP LTE, at least one eNodeB 104) is providedfor radio coverage within a respectively assigned macro radio cell 102.Furthermore, the communication system 100 may include a plurality ofmicro radio cells 106, wherein at least one mobile radio home basestation 108 (e.g. in the case of 3GPP LTE, at least one HeNodeB 108) isprovided for radio coverage within a respectively assigned micro radiocell 106.

In 3GPP (3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project), concepts are developedfor supporting the deployment of so-called ‘Home NodeBs’ or ‘HomeeNodeBs’ (HeNodeB) for the following Radio Access Technologies, forexample:

-   -   3G UMTS (UMTS based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA),        also referred to as ‘UTRA’ in 3GPP terminology);

and its successor technology

-   -   3.9G 3GPP LTE (Long Term Evolution, also referred to as ‘E-UTRA’        in 3GPP terminology).

A ‘Home NodeB’ or ‘Home eNodeB’ may be understood in accordance with3GPP as a trimmed-down version of a base station optimized for use inresidential or corporate environments (e.g., private homes, publicrestaurants or small office areas).

In an embodiment, access to a ‘Home NodeB’ may be allowed for a closeduser group only, i.e. the communication service offering may berestricted to employees of a particular company or family members, ingeneral, to the members of the closed user group. This kind of ‘HomeBase Stations’ may be referred to as ‘Closed Subscriber Group Cells’(CSG Cells) in 3GPP. A cell which indicates being a CSG Cell may need toprovide its CSG Identity to the UEs. Such a cell may only be suitablefor a UE if its CSG Identity is in the UE's CSG white list (a list ofCSG Identities maintained in the UE or in an associated smart cardindicating the cells which a particular UE is allowed to use forcommunication). It can be anticipated that HeNBs are typically operatedin CSG mode with access restrictions. In this context the terminology“Partially Open Cell” may refer to a mobile radio cell that isconfigured to allow parts of its resources to be accessed bynon-CSG-member UEs. This type of a semi-open CSG cell represents aspecific type of a mobile radio Base Station that may also requiredistinction from ‘normal’ macro and micro cells, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 1, there may be physical areas in which there is radiocoverage provided by one or more mobile radio base stations (macro radiocells) and also by one or more mobile radio home base stations (microradio cells). These overlapping areas are designated in FIG. 1 with thereference number 110. Furthermore, one or a plurality of mobile radiocommunication terminal devices 112 such as e.g. User Equipments (UEs)112 may be provided in the communication system 100. In FIG. 1, only oneUE 112 is shown for reasons of simplicity. In general, an arbitrarynumber of mobile radio communication terminal devices 112 may beprovided in the communication system 100. As shown in FIG. 1, the UE 112may be located in an area in which it can receive mobile radio signalsfrom a plurality of different mobile radio base stations 104 and/ormobile radio home base stations 108. Thus, the UE 112 may select onemobile radio base station 104 or one mobile radio home base station 108out of the plurality of different mobile radio base stations 104 and/ormobile radio home base stations 108 for mobile radio communicationservices. In other words, in an embodiment, the UE 112 is expected to bein an area with coverage guaranteed by “standard” 3GPP LTE Macro-Cells102 served by eNBs 104 and/or 3GPP LTE Micro-Cells 106 served by HeNBs108. Depending on various criteria, such as subscription type, userprofile, and so on, the UE 112 may be allowed to access HeNBs 108 ornot. Furthermore, the UE 112 may have certain other priorities, e.g.,related to radio link quality, QoS (Quality of Service), etc., onwhether to prefer communication connections to HeNBs 108 or standardeNBs 106, or even to a specific type of HeNB 108 or a specific type of astandard eNB 106.

Thus, an embodiment refers to the mobility of UEs 112 between macroradio cells 102 of eNBs 104 and micro radio cells 106 of HeNBs 108.

In various embodiments, as will be described in more detail below, meansto the UE may be provided to efficiently detect as to whether a mobileradio base station is a specific type of a mobile radio base station,e.g. as to whether a mobile radio base station is an eNB or a HeNB,assuming that there is potentially a large number of mobile radio basestations of both types available. It may be specifically be avoided thatthe UE needs to decode system information messages, what would introducea large latency and might require a considerable amount of batterypower.

As also will be described in more detail below, in accordance withvarious embodiments, a solution is provided that allows theidentification of the type of a mobile radio base station (e.g. as towhether the mobile radio base station is an eNB or a HeNB or whether aCSG Cell is configured with partial open access) in a very early stageof the mobile radio cell acquisition procedure. By way of example,various embodiments might allow a UE to have the related knowledge justafter synchronization to a mobile radio base station of unknown type.

Furthermore, it is to be noted that in accordance with variousembodiments, it is not necessary to change the structure and definitionof the physical layer, e.g. the physical layer and its correspondingentities in accordance with e.g. 3GPP LTE. FIG. 2 shows a radiocommunication network device 200 (such as a mobile radio base station104 or a mobile radio home base station 108) in accordance with anembodiment. In an embodiment, the radio communication network device 200may include a signaling message generating circuit 202 configured togenerate a signaling message 210 including at least one piece of mobileradio base station type determining information (which may also referredto as a set of mobile radio base station type determining information)indicating a rule as to how the type of a mobile radio base station outof a plurality of types of a mobile radio base station can be derivedfrom a mobile radio base station identifier. Furthermore, a transmitter204 may be provided. The transmitter 204 may be configured to transmitthe signaling message 210 to a mobile radio terminal device, e.g. a UE112, which will be described in more detail below. As an option, theradio communication network device 200 may further include a receiver206. The receiver 206 may be configured to receive mobile radio signalsfrom one or a plurality of mobile radio terminal devices, e.g. one ormore UEs 112, and/or from a radio network controller device or radionetwork controller entity such as e.g. an MME. The transmitter 204 andthe receiver 206 each may include one or a plurality of antennas.Furthermore, a radio communication network device controller 212 may beprovided being configured to provide the conventional control processesto run the radio communication network device 200. The radiocommunication network device 200 may further include any conventionallyprovided functionalities/circuits

Furthermore, the signaling message generating circuit 202, radiocommunication network device controller 212, the transmitter 204 and thereceiver 206 may be coupled with each other via a coupling structure 208such as e.g. cables, wires or one or more interconnection busses.

In an embodiment, the transmitter may further be configured to transmita synchronization message including a mobile radio base stationidentifier. Furthermore, the signaling message may be a systeminformation message of the cellular communication system, e.g. a systeminformation block message (SIB) or a master information block message(MIB), or a smart card information update message.

In one or more embodiments, a synchronization message may includeP-Synch signals and/or S-Synch signals. Furthermore, in one or moreembodiments, a signaling message may be understood as a control messageincluding at least one piece of mobile radio base station typedetermining information.

In another implementation, the signaling message may be a radio resourcecontrol protocol (RRC) message, thus, the signaling message may beconveyed in accordance with a radio resource control protocol (RRC). Inan embodiment, a radio resource control protocol (RRC) message may beunderstood as being a message including information in accordance withthe radio resource control protocol. In other words, the signalingmessage may be encoded, transmitted, decoded, and processed according tothe RRC (Radio Resource Control) protocol layer procedures.

In an embodiment, the mobile radio base station identifier may be aphysical layer cell identifier (PCI).

The type of a mobile radio base station may be an information as towhether the mobile radio base station is a mobile radio macro cell basestation (illustratively, a “standard” mobile radio base station) or amobile radio micro cell home base station (illustratively, a “Home BaseStation”). Alternatively or in addition to this, the type of a mobileradio base station may be a type of a mobile radio base station selectedfrom a group consisting of: a closed subscriber group mobile radio homebase station, a semi-open mobile radio home base station; and an opengroup mobile radio home base station. Alternatively or in addition tothis, the type of a mobile radio base station may be represented byalternative characteristics of a mobile radio base station, e.g.depending on subscriber contracts, etc.

The radio communication network device 200 may be configured as a ThirdGeneration Partnership Project communication network device such as e.g.as a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) communicationnetwork device (also referred to as NodeB), as a FOMA (Freedom ofMultimedia Access) communication network device, as a 3GPP LTE (LongTerm Evolution) communication network device, as a 3GPP LTE Advance(Long Term Evolution Advance) communication network device, etc.

The rule as to how the type of a mobile radio base station out of aplurality of types of a mobile radio base station can be derived from amobile radio base station identifier may include a rule selected from agroup of rules consisting of:

-   -   an assignment of a predefined sub-group of mobile radio base        station identifier values to a type of a mobile radio base        station of a plurality of types of a mobile radio base station;    -   a predefined calculation rule to determine the type of a mobile        radio base station of a plurality of types of a mobile radio        base station; and    -   references thereof to be evaluated in the mobile radio terminal        device.

By way of example, the assignment of a predefined sub-group of mobileradio base station identifier values to a type of a mobile radio basestation of a plurality of types of a mobile radio base station isselected from a group consisting of:

-   -   a predefined portion of a continuous value range of the mobile        radio base station identifier values;    -   a minimum value of a value range of the mobile radio base        station identifier values; and    -   a maximum value of a value range of the mobile radio base        station identifier values.

FIG. 3 shows a radio communication terminal device 300 (e.g. the UE 112)in accordance with an embodiment.

In an embodiment, the radio communication terminal device 300 mayinclude a receiver 302 configured to receive a synchronization messageincluding a mobile radio base station identifier (e.g. transmitted bythe radio communication network device 200 of FIG. 2). Furthermore, theradio communication terminal device 300 may include a memory 304configured to store at least one piece of signaled mobile radio basestation type determining information indicating a rule as to how thetype of a mobile radio base station out of a plurality of types of amobile radio base station can be derived from a mobile radio basestation identifier. In other words, the at least one piece of signaledmobile radio base station type determining information indicating a ruleas to how the type of a mobile radio base station out of a plurality oftypes of a mobile radio base station can be derived from a mobile radiobase station identifier may be stored in the memory 304.

As will be described in more detail below, in an alternative embodiment,the at least one piece of signaled mobile radio base station typedetermining information may also be stored in a memory of a radiocommunication smart card device 400 (see FIG. 4), which may e.g. beinserted in a radio communication terminal device such as e.g. the radiocommunication terminal device 300.

Moreover, the radio communication terminal device 300 may include amobile radio base station type determining circuit 306 configured todetermine the type of a mobile radio base station using the at least onepiece of stored mobile radio base station type determining informationand the received mobile radio base station identifier, respectively.Optionally, the radio communication terminal device 300 may include aradio communication terminal device controller 308 configured to providethe as such conventional functions and components of the radiocommunication terminal device 300. Further, a transmitter 310 includingone or more antennas (not shown) may be provided in the radiocommunication terminal device 300.

Furthermore, the receiver 302, the memory 304, the mobile radio basestation type determining circuit 306, the transmitter 310, and the radiocommunication terminal device controller 308 may be coupled with eachother via a coupling structure 312 such as e.g. cables, wires or one ormore interconnection busses.

In an embodiment, the receiver 302 may further be configured to receivea signaling message 314 including the at least one piece of mobile radiobase station type determining information. As already mentioned above,the signaling message 314 may be a system information message of thecellular communication system, e.g. a system information block message(SIB) or a master information block message (MIB), e.g. in accordancewith 3GPP LTE, or a smart card information update message.

Further, the signaling message may be a radio resource control protocol(RRC) message. The mobile radio base station identifier may be aphysical layer cell identifier (PCI).

The type of a mobile radio base station is a type of a mobile radio basestation selected from a group consisting of: a mobile radio macro cellbase station (illustratively, a “standard” mobile radio base station),and a mobile radio home base station (illustratively, a “Home BaseStation”). Alternatively or in addition to this, the type of a mobileradio base station may be a type of a mobile radio base station selectedfrom a group consisting of: a closed subscriber group mobile radio homebase station, a semi-open mobile radio home base station; and an opengroup mobile radio home base station. Alternatively or in addition tothis, the type of a mobile radio base station may be represented byalternative characteristics of a mobile radio base station, e.g.depending on subscriber contracts, etc.

The radio communication terminal device 300 may be configured as a ThirdGeneration Partnership Project communication terminal device such ase.g. as a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System)communication terminal device (also referred to as UE), as a FOMA(Freedom of Multimedia Access) communication terminal device, as an 3GPPLTE (Long Term Evolution) communication terminal device, as an LTEAdvance (Long Term Evolution Advance) communication terminal device,etc.

The rule as to how the type of a mobile radio base station out of aplurality of types of a mobile radio base station can be derived from amobile radio base station identifier may include a rule selected from agroup of rules consisting of:

-   -   an assignment of a predefined sub-group of mobile radio base        station identifier values to a type of a mobile radio base        station of a plurality of types of a mobile radio base station;    -   a predefined calculation rule to determine the type of a mobile        radio base station of a plurality of types of a mobile radio        base station; and    -   references thereof to be evaluated in the mobile radio terminal        device.

By way of example, the assignment of a predefined sub-group of mobileradio base station identifier values to a type of a mobile radio basestation of a plurality of types of a mobile radio base station isselected from a group consisting of:

-   -   a predefined portion of a continuous value range of the mobile        radio base station identifier values;    -   a minimum value of a value range of the mobile radio base        station identifier values; and    -   a maximum value of a value range of the mobile radio base        station identifier values.

FIG. 4 shows a radio communication smart card device 400 in accordancewith an embodiment. In an embodiment, the radio communication smart carddevice 400 may be inserted into the radio communication terminal device300 as shown in FIG. 3 and may be coupled to the other components of theradio communication terminal device 300 e.g. via a smart card interface,e.g. using a smart card Application Toolkit such as e.g. (depending onthe communication standard) using a SIM (Subscriber IdentificationModule) Application Toolkit (also referred to as SAT) or a UMTS SIM(Subscriber Identification Module) Application Toolkit (also referred toas USAT). This is not shown in the figures in detail for reasons ofclarity.

As shown in FIG. 4, the radio communication smart card device 400 mayinclude a smart card internal memory 402 configured to store one or morepiece(s) of mobile radio base station type determining informationindicating at least one rule as to how the type of a mobile radio basestation out of a plurality of types of a mobile radio base station canbe derived from a mobile radio base station identifier. Furthermore, theradio communication smart card device 400 may include a smart cardcontroller 404 configured to provide smart card internal processes aswell as the communication with the other components of the radiocommunication terminal device 300 such as with the radio communicationterminal device controller 308 as described above, e.g. using anoptionally provided USAT interface 406. The smart card internal memory402, the smart card controller 404, and the USAT interface 406 may becoupled with each other via a smart card internal coupling structure 408such as e.g. a smart card internal bus.

In an embodiment, the smart card internal memory 402 may be configuredsuch that the mobile radio base station type determining information canbe changed only by a radio network operator, and thus usually not by theuser of the radio communication terminal device 300. Furthermore, thesmart card internal memory 402 may be configured to store an elementaryfile including the one or more piece(s) of mobile radio base stationtype determining information, as will be described in more detail below.

In a more concrete implementation of various embodiments, the Physicallayer cell Identity (PCI) inherent to the synchronization sequences inaccordance with 3GPP LTE may be exploited in order to distinguishbetween eNBs and HeNBs as one example of different types of a mobileradio base station to be determined.

In an embodiment, for this purpose, there may be provided e.g. 504unique physical-layer cell identities where the physical-layer cellidentities may be grouped into e.g. 168 physical-layer cell-identitygroups which may contain three unique identities each. A physical-layercell identity N_(ID) ^(cell)=3N_(ID) ⁽¹⁾+N_(ID) ⁽²⁾ may thus be uniquelydefined by a number N_(ID) ⁽¹⁾ in the range of 0 to 167, and a numberN_(ID) ⁽²⁾ in the range of 0 to 2, representing the physical-layeridentity within the physical-layer cell-identity group.

This is illustrated in a time/frequency diagram 500 in FIG. 5. Thetime/frequency diagram 500 shows a time axis 502 and a frequency axis504 illustrating the structure of a time slot including a plurality oftime transmission intervals (TTI) 506, 508, 510, 512, 514 in accordancewith an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 5, in an embodiment, a sixth TTI #5512 may include so-called S-SYNC information. In more detail, a firstunused field 516, an S-SYNC field 518 and a second unused field 520 maybe provided in the sixth TTI #5 512. In an embodiment, there may beprovided two different sets of e.g. 168 binary sequences for the S-SYNCsignal in the S-SYNC (secondary synchronization signal) field 518 e.g.in a first TTI #0 506 and in the sixth TTI #5 512, respectively. Thesequences may be constructed by an interleaved concatenation of e.g. twosub-sequences of length 31 bits. In one or more embodiments, a sequenced(0), . . . , d(61) used for the second synchronization signal may be aninterleaved concatenation of two length-31 binary sequences. Theconcatenated sequence may be scrambled with a scrambling sequence givenby the primary synchronization signal.

As also shown in FIG. 5, in an embodiment, a seventh TTI #6 514 mayinclude a third unused field 522, a P-SYNC (primary synchronizationsignal) field 524 and a fourth unused field 524 may be provided. In anembodiment, so-called FD Zadoff-Chu sequences of length 62 may bespecified, wherein each sequence may be related to one physical layeridentifier. Each sequence may be mapped to one of 62 central frequencysub-carriers around a DC frequency carrier (in total, in an embodiment,as shown in FIG. 5, 72 frequency sub-carriers may be reserved). In anembodiment, a sequence d(n) used for the primary synchronization signalmay be generated from a frequency-domain Zadoff-Chu sequence accordingto

${d_{u}(n)} = \left\{ {\begin{matrix}e^{{- j}\frac{\pi\;{{un}{({n + 1})}}}{63}} & {{n = 0},1,\ldots\mspace{14mu},30} \\e^{{- j}\frac{\pi\;{u{({n + 1})}}{({n + 2})}}{63}} & {{n = 31},32,\ldots\mspace{14mu},61}\end{matrix},} \right.$

wherein the Zadoff-Chu root sequence index u may be given by thefollowing table:

N_(ID) ⁽²⁾ Root index u 0 25 1 29 2 34

In one or more embodiments, the preamble sequences to be transmitted maybe constructed by a suitable mapping of these preamble sequences ontoselected frequency carriers in the OFDM symbols.

As will be described in more detail below, in an embodiment, each MNO(Mobile Network Operator) may be allowed to reserve an arbitrary numberof PCIs for mobile radio home base stations (e.g. HeNBs) and theremaining ones for mobile radio base stations (e.g. eNBs) in order toreduce the synchronization complexity for mobile radio communicationterminal devices (e.g. UEs) targeting at communicating with an mobileradio base stations (e.g. eNBs) or mobile radio home base stations (e.g.HeNBs) only—this may be achieved in an example by assigning a sub-groupof N_(ID) ⁽²⁾={0,1,2} to mobile radio base stations (e.g. eNBs) ormobile radio home base stations (e.g. HeNBs) exclusively. Then, thewhole range of N_(ID) ⁽¹⁾ may always be searched for while only thesub-space of N_(ID) ⁽²⁾={0,1,2} that is of interest to the mobile radiocommunication terminal device (e.g. UE) may be searched for during thesynchronization phase. In various embodiments, this may enable the UE tofind out the status of an eNB/eHNB just by evaluating the primarysychronization symbol as defined e.g. in 3GPP 36.211. A consideration ofthe secondary synchronization signal may not be required if e.g.N_ID^(2) already indicates that the eNB/eHNB type is not the typedesired by the UE. This additionally may speed up the process.

According an embodiment, e.g. the UE 112 may be informed about an MNO(Mobile Network Operator) preferred PCI subsets for HeNBs by means of asmart card device (for example a SIM-Card (SIM—Subscriber IdentityModule) device or a UICC (UICC—Universal Integrated Circuit Card) devicewith integrated (U)SIM (USIM—Universal Subscriber Identity Module).Smart card devices usually offer different types of memory. While acertain portion of the so-called ‘Elementary Files’ stored in a firstmemory (or a first memory portion) of a smart card device can bewritten/updated exclusively by the MNO (Mobile Network Operator),another memory (or another memory portion) or other memories (or othermemory portions) may also be overwritten/updated by the user of thesmart card device without mobile network operator control. A first typeof ‘Elementary Files’ may be provided for OTA data provisioning methods(OTA—over the air) after hand out of the smart card device to the user.According to one embodiment, the PCI values for HeNBs may be assigned ina semi-static fashion and could be altered for example via over-the-airSIM Card update processes depending on the subscription type or anyother criteria (should the need arise).

By way of example, said SIM Card update processes can be triggered bytransmitting a smart card update information message comprising at leastone piece of mobile radio base station type determining information fromthe MNO's core network to the mobile radio terminal device.

As already mentioned above, in an embodiment, it is possible for an MNO(Mobile Network Operator) to choose a semi-static PCI configurationapproach by storing the relevant information in a smart card deviceconnectable to a mobile radio communication device such as e.g. a mobileradio communication device, e.g. a UE 112. Various types of smart carddevices may be used in various embodiments such as e.g. those smart carddevices that are specified in mobile radio communication systemsaccording to 3GPP communication standards such as e.g. in a UMTScommunication standard such as e.g. in an 3GPP LTE communicationstandard.

In the context of one embodiment, a UICC (UICC—Universal IntegratedCircuit Card) with at least one integrated (U)SIM (USIM—UniversalSubscriber Identity Module) may be provided. The general principlesdisclosed here can be easily applied to other variants of smart carddevices in alternative embodiments.

According to one embodiment, the PCI value assignments may be stored ina part of a USIM's memory, e.g. in the smart card internal memory 402,wherein the memory may be configured such that

-   -   it may be updated (i.e. overwritten) during an operation for        example using as such conventional mechanisms, such as USAT        (Universal SIM Application Toolkit) or CAT (Card Application        Toolkit) transactions and commands between the mobile device and        the smart card device; and    -   it is controlled exclusively by the MNO (Mobile Network        Operator) (i.e. that it is write-protected against user        manipulation).

In an embodiment, the following changes may be provided to theconventional USIM Service Tables in order to indicate to a UE (e.g. theUE 112), which USIM services are supported by the corresponding smartcard device.

TABLE 1 The ‘Elementary File’ (EF) “USIM Service Table” in accordancewith an embodiment Identifier: ‘6F38’ Structure: transparent MandatorySFI: ‘04’ File size: X bytes, X >= 1 Update activity: low AccessConditions: READ PIN UPDATE ADM DEACTIVATE ADM ACTIVATE ADM BytesDescription M/O Length 1 Services n ° 1 to n ° 8 M 1 byte 2 Services n °9 to n ° 16 O 1 byte 3 Services n ° 17 to n ° 24 O 1 byte 4 Services n °25 to n ° 32 O 1 byte Etc. X Services n ° (8X-7) to n °(8X) O 1 byte

As is shown in table 2 in FIG. 10, compared with the conventionalservices, the service n 80, also referred to as “PCI Assignment to BaseStation Classes” has been added in accordance with an embodiment.

In FIG. 11, a possible realization of the “PCI Assignment to BaseStation Classes” is described in more detail (service table entry #80):

Thus, illustratively, the structure of the service “PCI Assignment toBase Station Classes” may include an access conditions field andadditional six bytes for further parameter definitions. In this example,the access conditions field may be set such that only the user beingidentified by the PIN (Personal Identification Number) is allowed toread the content of this service structure. Furthermore, the accessoperations to update, deactivate or activate the service structure orthe service itself are only allowed for the Mobile Network Operator(indicated in the above structure by “ADM”).

The structure and meaning of the six bytes will be described in moredetail below with reference to FIG. 12:

BS Type Coding (e.g. used for the fields “BS type of first PCI range”(Byte 1), “BS type of second PCI range” (Byte 3), and “BS type of thirdPCI range” (Byte 5)): This respective Byte may indicate the type of thePCI value range in question. Bit b1 may be set to ‘1’ when the mobileradio base station (BS) is a “Standard” eNodeB (e.g. a macro radio cellmobile radio base station), bit b2 may be set to ‘1’ when the mobileradio base station (BS) is a Home eNodeB (e.g. a micro radio cell mobileradio base station), etc. . . Bits b5-b8 may be reserved for future use.

-   -   Upper Limit (e.g. used for the fields “Upper limit for PCI range        #1” (Byte 2), “Upper limit for second PCI range” (Byte 4), and        “Upper limit for third PCI range” (Byte 6)): This respective        Byte may indicate the upper limit of the PCI value range in        question. As there may be 504 PCI values 8 bits may be enough to        set the upper limit per range at bit 256. The next PCI value        range will start with value ‘0’ from that limit upwards as        described in FIG. 6 which will be described in more detail        below.

FIG. 6 shows an example for a PCI assignment to three different types ofmobile radio base stations for storage in a radio communication smartcard device in accordance with an embodiment in a diagram 600.

As shown in FIG. 6, a first PCI value range 602 may be in the range from0 to 119, thereby allowing 120 PCI values to be assigned to a firstmobile radio base station type A (with an upper value limit set to“120”). Furthermore, a second PCI value range 604 may be in the rangefrom 120 to 375, thereby allowing 256 PCI values to be assigned to asecond mobile radio base station type B (with an upper value limit setto “256”). Finally, in this implementation, a third PCI value range 606may be in the range from 376 to 503, thereby allowing 128 PCI values tobe assigned to a third mobile radio base station type C (with an uppervalue limit set to “128”).

The amended ‘Elementary File’ (EF) for Service #80 (tagged withidentifier ‘6FE0’) in this example may allow specifying up to three PCIvalue ranges for different types of mobile radio base stations. Othercoding alternatives according to the details on PCI assignments as willbe described below may be provided in alternative embodiments.

With this embodiment, PCI values can be assigned to different types ofmobile radio base stations in a semi-static fashion by the MNO (MobileNetwork Operator). Should a need arise, the assignments may be alteredduring operation depending on the subscription type or any othercriteria, e.g. carried out by the MNO.

According to another embodiment a radio communication terminal devicesuch as e.g. a UE (e.g. the UE 112) may be informed about the PCIsubsets of HeNBs by means of RAT (Radio Access Technology) signalingbetween the MNO's (Mobile Network Operator) core network and the radiocommunication terminal device such as e.g. a UE (e.g. the UE 112). Sincethe corresponding assignment may change over space (depending on thenumber of deployed HeNBs, etc.) and time, it may be provided that theradio communication terminal device such as e.g. a UE (e.g. the UE 112)can be informed about changes in the range of PCI values dynamically. Inan embodiment, it may be provided to use the 3GPP LTE RRC (RadioResource Control) layer 3 protocol for signaling. By way of example, thesystem information (SI) broadcast of the mobile communication networkmay be enhanced accordingly. In this case the MNO (Mobile NetworkOperator) may have full flexibility and may chose to update/modify theassignment of PCI values quickly whenever a need arises. A radiocommunication terminal device such as e.g. a UE (e.g. the UE 112) mayonly need to receive and decode the system information (SI) broadcastonce in accordance with an embodiment. For all other suitable mobileradio cells in the same location, there may be no need to perform thesetime and energy consuming exercise again, as the suitability of other(neighbouring) mobile radio cells can be detected simply be means ofreceiving and analysing the PCIs. This may allow a radio communicationterminal device such as e.g. a UE (e.g. the UE 112) to know just afterperforming the synchronization whether a particular mobile radio basestation is of a specific (predefined) type, e.g. whether a particularmobile radio base station is a HeNB or a standard eNB.

This embodiments may have one or more or even all of the followingeffects:

-   -   Information can be altered fast and dynamically by the        MNO(Mobile Network Operator).    -   Information can depend on location (e.g., tracking area).    -   The user may set the desired radio communication terminal device        behaviour such as e.g. a UE behaviour (e.g., by pushing a button        or ticking a box in the UE's menu) to restrict/enable/prioritize        access to a certain mobile radio base station type.

In the sequel, it is explained how the information related to the PCIs(reserved either for HeNBs or standard eNBs, for example) may beincluded in a system information message such as e.g. as SIB (systeminformation block) or a MIB (master information block). In more detail,a new information element ‘pci-Info’ may be introduced. Without loss ofgenerality a specific implementation example from the mobile radio basestation perspective is given. Afterwards, the radio communicationterminal device such as e.g. a UE (e.g. the UE 112) can operate based onthe process illustrated in a flow diagram 700 in FIG. 7, which will bedescribed in more detail below.

In an embodiment, and in accordance with 3GPP LTE, a so-calledMasterInformationBlock (MIB) may be defined that informs the UE 112about the most essential physical layer parameters of the mobile radiocell that are required by a UE to receive further system information. Inan embodiment, the list of these most essential physical layerparameters may include:

- dl-SystemBandwidth (details are for further study); -numberOfTransmitAntennas BIT STRING (SIZE 4); - phich-ConfigurationPHICH-Configuration; - systemFrameNumber BIT STRING (SIZE 8).

In another embodiment, and in accordance with 3GPP LTE, a so-calledSystemInformationBlock1 may be defined that contains informationrelevant when evaluating if a UE (e.g. UE 112) is allowed to access amobile radio cell and defines the scheduling of other System InformationBlocks (SIBs). In an embodiment, the list of information elements inthis container may include:

- cellAccessRelatedInformation SEQUENCE - plmn-IdentityList SEQUENCE(1..6) - plmn-Identity PLMN Identity - cellReservedForOperatorUseENUMERATED {reserved, notReserved} - trackingAreaCode Tracking AreaCode - cellIdentity Cell Identity - cellBarred ENUMERATED {barred,notBarred} - intraFrequencyCellReselection BOOLEAN -cellReservationExtension ENUMERATED {reserved, notReserved} -csg-Indication BOOLEAN - cellSelectionInfo SEQUENCE - q-Rxlevmin INTEGER(−60..−28) - q-Rxlevminoffset INTEGER (1..8) - frequencyBandIndicatorINTEGER (1..64), - schedulinInformation SEQUENCE (1..maxSI-Message) -si-Periodicity ENUMERATED {ms80, ms160, ms320, ..., ms5120}, -sib-MappingInfo SEQUENCE (1..maxSIB) OF SIB- Type - tdd-ConfigurationTDD-Configuration - si-WindowLength ENUMERATED (value range is forfurther study) - systemInformationValueTag INTEGER (value range is forfurther study) - mbsfn-SubframeConfiguration SEQUENCE (for further studyin which SIB this IE should be placed) - radioframeAllocation SEQUENCE(value range is for further study) - subframeAllocation INTEGER (1..7)

In another embodiment, and in accordance with 3GPP LTE, furtherso-called SystemInformationBlocks may be defined and provided forvarious purposes. These may be referred to as SIB Types 2 to 8. Each ofthem may contain a number of different Information Elements (IE).

A short overview is given in the following:

SIB-Type2 may contain common and shared channel information.

SIB-Type3 may contain mobile radio cell re-selection information, mainlyrelated to the serving mobile radio cell.

SIB-Type4 may contain information about the serving frequency andintra-frequency neighbouring mobile radio cells relevant for mobileradio cell re-selection. This may include mobile radio cell re-selectionparameters common for a frequency as well as mobile radio cell specificre-selection parameters.

SIB-Type5 may contain information about other E-UTRA frequencies andinter-frequency neighbouring mobile radio cells relevant for mobileradio cell re-selection. This may include mobile radio cell re-selectionparameters common for a frequency as well as mobile radio cell specificre-selection parameters.

SIB-Type6 may contain information about UTRA frequencies and UTRAneighbouring mobile radio cells relevant for mobile radio cellre-selection. This may include mobile radio cell re-selection parameterscommon for a frequency as well as mobile radio cell specificre-selection parameters.

SIB-Type7 may contain information about GERAN frequencies relevant formobile radio cell re-selection. This may include mobile radio cellre-selection parameters for each frequency.

SIB-Type8 may contain information about CDMA2000 frequencies andCDMA2000 neighbouring mobile radio cells relevant for mobile radio cellre-selection. This may include mobile radio cell re-selection parameterscommon for a frequency as well as mobile radio cell specificre-selection parameters.

In order to allow a UE (e.g. the UE 112) to identify the class or typeof a mobile radio base station (examples: “standard eNB”, “HeNBoperating as a CSG Cell”, or “HeNB with partial open access”, etc.) in avery early stage of the communication connection set-up process, in anembodiment, a new Information Element (IE) may be added in one of theSystem Information Blocks as described above or a new System InformationBlock may be defined for this purpose:

-   -   addition to the MIB (in this context it should be noted that the        MIB is concerned with physical layer parameters);    -   addition to SIB Type 1;    -   addition to any other of the existing SIBs of types 2-8;    -   definition of a new, separate System Information Block SIB Type        X.

According to one embodiment, the most essential physical layerparameters of MIB may contain further system information as follows:

dl-SystemBandwidth (details are for further study);numberOfTransmitAntennas BIT STRING (SIZE 4); phich-ConfigurationPHICH-Configuration; systemFrameNumber BIT STRING (SIZE 8); pci-InfoSEQUENCE (1 . . . 4); cell-type ENUMERATED {standard, HeNB-CSG, etc.};start-value BIT STRING (SIZE9); end-value BIT STRING (SIZE9)

The new Information Element “pci-Info” in this example allows to specifyup to four PCI value ranges for different types of mobile radio basestations. Basically, different numbers of PCI value ranges and othercoding alternatives according to the details given below are provided inalternative embodiments.

In accordance with various embodiments, e.g. in accordance with allembodiments described above, details of PCI assignments for HeNBs/eNBsmay include one or more of the following options:

-   -   the sub-group of N_(ID) ⁽²⁾={0,1,2} to be assigned; or    -   a starting/ending cell ID N_(ID) ^(cell)=3N_(ID) ⁽¹⁾+N_(ID) ⁽²⁾        may be communicated; or    -   the starting cell ID (e.g., starting PCI) may be set to ‘0’ and        the ending cell ID may be communicated only; or    -   the ending cell ID (e.g., ending PCI) may be set to the max.        value and the starting cell ID (e.g., starting PCI) may be        communicated only; or    -   a calculation rule may be communicated (e.g., every third PCI        belongs to a standard eNB, the rest belongs to HeNB operating as        CSG Cells); or    -   deviation from a default value range (e.g., if the default range        assigned to HeNBs is 0 . . . 50, this range could be        extended/restricted in certain steps).

In an embodiment, the acquisition of PCIs reserved for HeNBs or standardeNBs, respectively, by a radio communication terminal device such ase.g. a UE may be provided in accordance with the procedure as shown inthe flow diagram 700 in FIG. 7.

In 702, a UE (e.g. the UE 112) may be switched on and may detect variousexisting mobile radio base stations (e.g. eNodeBs) with no knowledgeabout the respective type of the detected mobile radio base stations,e.g. with no knowledge as to whether the respectively detected mobileradio base station is a “standard” (macro radio cell) mobile radio basestation or a mobile radio home (micro radio cell) base station.

In 704, the UE (e.g. the UE 112) may connect to one of the detectedmobile radio base stations with any suitable way of choosing it amongthe available detected mobile radio base stations (e.g., random choice,selection of the mobile radio base station with the strongest receptionsignal, selection of the mobile radio base station with the highest SINR(Signal-Interference-Noise-Ratio, etc.).

In 706, the UE (e.g. the UE 112) may decode System Information accordingto the descriptions above (for example: MIB, SIB Type 1, any other ofthe existing SIB Types, or a new SIB Type to be defined) from theselected mobile radio base station and may recover PCIs reserved forHeNBs and standard eNBs respectively, for example.

In 708, if required or desired, the UE (e.g. the UE 112) may connect toother mobile radio base stations (whose type is unknown to the UE (e.g.the UE 112) for the time-being) and may check the PCI during thesynchronization phase. If the PCI is not included in the suitablesub-set (i.e., reserved for HeNBs, standard eNBs, etc.) recovered in theSystem Information before, the connection may be abandoned directlyafter the synchronization phase (which may be required to obtain thePCI). This process may be repeated until a suitable mobile radio basestation type is found or the UE (e.g. the UE 112) finds that none of theavailable mobile radio base stations is suitable.

FIG. 8 shows a flow diagram 800 illustrating a method for determiningthe type of a mobile radio base station in accordance with anembodiment.

The method may include, in 802, receiving a synchronization messageincluding a mobile radio base station identifier. Furthermore, in 804,the type of a mobile radio base station may be determined using at leastone piece of a previously signaled and stored mobile radio base stationtype determining information indicating a rule as to how the type of amobile radio base station out of a plurality of types of a mobile radiobase station can be derived from a mobile radio base station identifierand the received mobile radio base station identifier.

In an example of this embodiment, the method may further includereceiving a signaling message including the at least one piece of mobileradio base station type determining information. In another example ofthis embodiment, the signaling message may be a type of signalingmessage selected from a group consisting of: a system informationmessage of the cellular communication system; and a smart cardinformation update message. In yet another example of this embodiment,the signaling message may be a system information block message or amaster information block message. In yet another example of thisembodiment, the signaling message may be conveyed in accordance with aradio resource control protocol. In yet another example of thisembodiment, the mobile radio base station identifier may be a physicallayer cell identifier. In yet another example of this embodiment, thetype of a mobile radio base station is a type of a mobile radio basestation selected from a group consisting of: a mobile radio macro cellbase station; and a mobile radio micro cell home base station. In yetanother example of this embodiment, the type of a mobile radio basestation is a type of a mobile radio base station selected from a groupconsisting of: a closed subscriber group mobile radio home base station;a semi-open mobile radio home base station; and an open group mobileradio home base station. In yet another example of this embodiment, themethod may be carried out by a radio communication terminal device. Inyet another example of this embodiment, the radio communication terminaldevice is a Third Generation Partnership Project communication terminaldevice. In yet another example of this embodiment, the radiocommunication terminal device is a Long Term Evolution communicationterminal device. In yet another example of this embodiment, the rule asto how the type of a mobile radio base station out of a plurality oftypes of a mobile radio base station can be derived from a mobile radiobase station identifier including a rule selected from a group of rulesconsisting of: an assignment of a predefined sub-group of mobile radiobase station identifier values to a type of a mobile radio base stationof a plurality of types of a mobile radio base station; a predefinedcalculation rule to determine the type of a mobile radio base station ofa plurality of types of a mobile radio base station (or references tothe assignments or assignment rules listed above); and referencesthereof to be evaluated by the mobile radio terminal device. In yetanother example of this embodiment, the assignment of a predefinedsub-group of mobile radio base station identifier values to a type of amobile radio base station of a plurality of types of a mobile radio basestation is selected from a group consisting of: a predefined portion ofa continuous value range of the mobile radio base station identifiervalues; a minimum value of a value range of the mobile radio basestation identifier values; and a maximum value of a value range of themobile radio base station identifier values.

FIG. 9 shows a flow diagram 900 illustrating a method for signaling atleast one piece of mobile radio base station type determininginformation in accordance with an embodiment.

The method may include, in 902, generating a signaling message includingat least one piece of mobile radio base station type determininginformation indicating a rule as to how the type of a mobile radio basestation out of a plurality of types of a mobile radio base station canbe derived from a mobile radio base station identifier. Furthermore, in904, the signaling message may be transmitted to a mobile radio terminaldevice.

In an example of this embodiment, the method may further includetransmitting a synchronization message including a mobile radio basestation identifier. In another example of this embodiment, the signalingmessage may be a type of signaling message selected from a groupconsisting of: a system information message of the cellularcommunication system; and a smart card information update message. Inyet another example of this embodiment, the signaling message may be asystem information block message or a master information block message.In yet another example of this embodiment, the signaling message may beconveyed in accordance with a radio resource control protocol. In yetanother example of this embodiment, the mobile radio base stationidentifier may be a physical layer cell identifier. In yet anotherexample of this embodiment, the type of a mobile radio base station maybe a type of a mobile radio base station selected from a groupconsisting of: a mobile radio macro cell base station; and a mobileradio micro cell home base station. In yet another example of thisembodiment, the type of a mobile radio base station may be a type of amobile radio base station selected from a group consisting of: a closedsubscriber group mobile radio home base station; a semi-open mobileradio home base station; and an open group mobile radio home basestation. In yet another example of this embodiment, the method may becarried out by a radio communication network device. In yet anotherexample of this embodiment, the radio communication network device is aThird Generation Partnership Project communication network device. Inyet another example of this embodiment, the radio communication networkdevice is a Long Term Evolution communication network device. In yetanother example of this embodiment, the rule as to how the type of amobile radio base station out of a plurality of types of a mobile radiobase station can be derived from a mobile radio base station identifierincludes a rule selected from a group of rules consisting of: anassignment of a predefined sub-group of mobile radio base stationidentifier values to a type of a mobile radio base station of aplurality of types of a mobile radio base station; and a predefinedcalculation rule to determine the type of a mobile radio base station ofa plurality of types of a mobile radio base station (or references tothe assignments or assignment rules listed above). In yet anotherexample of this embodiment, the assignment of a predefined sub-group ofmobile radio base station identifier values to a type of a mobile radiobase station of a plurality of types of a mobile radio base station maybe selected from a group consisting of: a predefined portion of acontinuous value range of the mobile radio base station identifiervalues; a minimum value of a value range of the mobile radio basestation identifier values; and a maximum value of a value range of themobile radio base station identifier values.

In various embodiments, an approach of signaling separate (sets of) PCIsfor HeNBs and/or standard eNBs is provided.

In various embodiments, a radio communication terminal device such ase.g. a UE may be provided with said (sets of) PCIs e.g. using dedicated(operator controlled) ‘Elementary Files’ (EF) in a smart card (such as aSIM Card or a UICC with integrated (U)SIM), or by using RAT (RadioAccess Technology) signalling (e.g., use SIB enhancements in layer 3 RRCprotocol as outlined above).

In various embodiments, an assignment of a sub-group of N_(ID)⁽²⁾={0,1,2} to eNBs or HeNBs exclusively, may be provided.

In various embodiments, Over-the-Air transportation of PCI assignmentmay be provided by communicating the subgroups:

-   -   as the sub-group of N_(ID) ⁽²⁾={0,1,2} to be assigned to eNBs,        or    -   as a starting/ending cell ID N_(ID) ^(cell)=3N_(ID) ⁽¹⁾+N_(ID)        ⁽²⁾ is communicated, or    -   as the starting cell ID is set to ‘0’ and the ending cell ID is        communicated only, or    -   as the ending cell ID is set to the max. value and the starting        cell ID is communicated only, or    -   utilizing calculation rules, or    -   by means of specifying deviations from predefined values.

In various embodiments, various types of HeNBs, e.g. “open” HeNBs,“semi-open” HeNBs and “closed” HeNBs may be introduced. Then, PCIs maynot only be reserved for two types of devices (HeNBs and standard eNBs),but for more than two types (e.g., standard eNBs, “open” HeNBs,“semi-open” HeNBs and “closed” HeNBs) to allow for finer distinction.

It should further be noted that various embodiments may be applied toany other radio communication system, e.g. in accordance with WiMax,e.g. in accordance with IEEE 802.16m. In one or more alternativeembodiments, the above described embodiments may also be applied to aradio communication system in accordance with IEEE 802.16e.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to specific embodiments, it should be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims. The scope of the invention is thusindicated by the appended claims and all changes which come within themeaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended tobe embraced.

What is claimed is:
 1. One or more non-transitory, computer-readablemedia having instructions that, when executed, cause a user equipment(“UE”) to: process a system information block (“SIB”) Type 4 informationelement (“IE”) received from an enhanced node B (“eNB”); determine arange of physical cell identities (“PCIs”) reserved for closedsubscriber group (“CSG”) cells based on the SIB Type 4 IE, wherein theSIB Type 4 IE corresponds to the range of PCIs reserved for CSG cells;and save the range of PCIs to facilitate a subsequent cell search. 2.The one or more non-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1,wherein the eNB is a first eNB and the instructions, when executed,further cause the UE to: receive a synchronization signal from a secondeNB; determine a PCI of the second eNB based on the synchronizationsignal; and determine whether the second eNB provides a CSG cell basedon the PCI and the range of PCIs.
 3. The one or more non-transitory,computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the SIB Type 4 IE isincluded in a radio resource control (“RRC”) message.
 4. The one or morenon-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the SIB Type4 IE includes a starting PCI value and the instructions, when executed,further cause the UE to: determine the range of PCIs reserved for CSGcells based on the starting PCI value.
 5. The one or morenon-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 4, wherein theinstructions, when executed, further cause the UE to: determine a numberof PCIs in the range of PCIs based on one or more values in the SIB Type4 IE; and determine the range of PCIs reserved for CSG cells based onthe starting PCI value and that the number of PCIs.
 6. The one or morenon-transitory, computer-readable media of claim 1, wherein the SIB Type4 IE is broadcast in a downlink transmission by the eNB.
 7. An apparatuscomprising: memory; and a determining circuit to: receive a systeminformation block (“SIB”) Type 4 information element (“IE”) from anenhanced node B (“eNB”); determine a range that indicates a plurality ofphysical cell identities (“PCIs”) reserved for closed subscriber group(“CSG”) cells based on the SIB Type 4 IE; and save the range to indicatethe plurality of PCIs in the memory.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7,further comprising: a radio communication terminal device controllercoupled with the memory, the radio communication terminal devicecontroller to control access to a cell based on the range of PCIsreserved for CSG cells.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the eNB isa first eNB and the radio communication terminal device controller isfurther to determine a PCI of a second eNB; and determine whether thesecond eNB provides a CSG cell based on the PCI and the range of PCIs.10. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the SIB Type 4 IE is to indicatethe range of PCIs reserved for CSG cells.
 11. The apparatus of claim 7,wherein the SIB Type 4 IE is included in a radio resource control(“RRC”) message.
 12. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the SIB Type 4 IEincludes a starting PCI value and the determining circuit is todetermine the range of PCIs reserved for CSG cells based on the startingPCI value.
 13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the determiningcircuit is further to: determine a number of PCIs in the range of PCIsbased on one or more values in the SIB Type 4 IE; and determine therange of PCIs reserved for CSG cells based on the starting PCI value andthat the number of PCIs.
 14. One or more non-transitory,computer-readable media having instructions that, when executed, causean enhanced node B (“eNB”) to: generate a message that includes a systeminformation block (“SIB”) Type 4 information element (“IE”) that is toindicate a range that indicates a plurality of physical cell identities(“PCIs”) reserved for closed subscriber group (“CSG”) cells; and causetransmission of the message.
 15. The one or more non-transitory,computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the message is a radioresource control (“RRC”) message.
 16. The one or more non-transitory,computer-readable media of claim 14, wherein the instructions, whenexecuted, further cause the eNB to: generate the message to include, inthe SIB Type 4 IE, a starting PCI value to indicate the range of PCIsreserved for CSG cells.
 17. The one or more non-transitory,computer-readable media of claim 16, wherein the instructions, whenexecuted, further cause the eNB to: generate the message to include, inthe SIB Type 4 IE, one or more values to indicate a number of PCIs inthe range of PCIs.
 18. An apparatus comprising: a radio communicationnetwork device controller to control processes to run a radiocommunication network device; and a signaling message generating circuitcoupled with the radio communication network device controller, thesignaling message generating circuit to: generate a message thatincludes a system information block (“SIB”) Type 4 information elementthat is to indicate a range of physical cell identities (“PCIs”)reserved for closed subscriber group (“CSG”) cells; and causetransmission of the message.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein themessage is a radio resource control (“RRC”) message.
 20. The apparatusof claim 18, wherein the signaling message generating circuit is furtherto: generate the message to include, in the SIB Type 4 IE, a startingPCI value to indicate the range of PCIs reserved for CSG cells.
 21. Theapparatus of claim 20, wherein the signal message generating circuit isfurther to: generate the message to include, in the SIB Type 4 IE, oneor more values to indicate a number of PCIs in the range of PCIs.